From: "John A. Weeks III" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: Overpricing in a Sellers Market
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 19:36:39 -0600

In article <1109114193.684037.91850@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
 carlton.yates@gmail.com wrote:

> I live in a hot real estate market. My house appraised for $350K (by my
> mortgage company) before painting/deck replacement, landscaping, etc. I
> have accepted a job offer and will be moving (I can commute until the
> house sells.) Houses in the neighborhood range from $1.3M to the lowest
> being $635K. My question is... is asking $450K out of line. This may be
> a "how long does it take to catch a fish" question. I know there are
> many dependencies here but was interested in some feedback before I
> meet with a realtor.

You realtor will be able to run some comparables, and give
you an idea of where you should be at.  You are, however,
free to ask whatever you want.  It is your house afterall.
The key factor in price is how long it takes to sell.  A
house that is priced fairly will sell pretty quickly.  If
you are not getting offers, then you know you are too high.
If you have to sell, then you may want to start at a more
reasonable price to get the action going.  There is a cost
to starting high and waiting for offers--once you list, the
clock starts running on your MLS listing.  Houses that stay
on the MLS for a long time get the reputation of being a dog,
and people think something is wrong with it.  Once you do
lower your price, you still may not get offers.  You may
end up getting less in the long run by starting high.

-john-

-- 
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John A. Weeks III           952-432-2708            john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications                         http://www.johnweeks.com
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